Read it.
Use it.
Focused guides for the questions that need more than a quick answer. Each includes a worksheet to prepare your next conversation.
Guides for your next decision.
Build a TN employer evidence brief before drafting the letter
Read & prepare Applicant planningKeep an L-1A new-office record from approval to extension
Read & prepare Applicant planningCompare the E-2 evidence for a startup and a business purchase
Read & prepare U.S. destination planningCanadian RN planning for New York State
Read & prepare U.S. destination planningCanadian RN planning for California
Read & prepareSeven decisions, answered before you prepare.
An authenticated diploma still needs the right credential analysis
Authentication, translation and academic evaluation serve different purposes. Before buying an apostille or another authentication service, ask what the receiving authority actually requires. A seal on a diploma does not establish that its qualification meets the requirements of the chosen TN profession. Begin by naming the reader. An apostille is directed at an authority that accepts apostilles, a credential evaluation is directed at an officer assessing a qualification, and a translation is directed at whoever must read a document not written in their language. A service bought without a named reader usually answers a question nobody asked.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Identify the reason for each proposed service
- Apply the translation and degree rules separately
- Connect the qualification to the proposed work
An expiring passport creates a document task, not a new citizenship
A Canadian permanent resident may need to renew a foreign passport while considering U.S. employment. Record the citizenship actually held and the passport’s expiry separately. Neither a Canadian address nor a passport-renewal receipt supplies Canadian citizenship for TN. Two different governments hold the two facts in play, and neither answers for the other. The country of citizenship issues and renews the passport and decides how long that takes. Canada records permanent residence and issues its own travel documents. An employer waiting on a start date is asking a question that neither authority has undertaken to answer by any particular day.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Ask the issuing authority about renewal evidence
- Evaluate the category on current facts
- Sequence the procedures without inventing a travel rule
A software valuation is not the same as a documented investment
A founder may attribute substantial value to software developed before forming the U.S. business. For E-2 planning, separate an estimated value from the legal rights and capital actually contributed. A valuation report does not by itself establish what qualifying investment the applicant has made. Ask who is asserting each number and what standing they have to assert it. A valuer states an opinion of worth, a developer states what was built, a former employer may hold a claim nobody has yet tested, and only the investor can say what has actually been transferred to the enterprise. The last of those is the one the analysis turns on.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Describe the asset and the rights involved
- Keep historical cost, valuation and commitment distinct
- Connect the asset to a viable enterprise
A phased premises plan needs evidence of what is secured now
A new-office plan may start in one space and move later as operations grow. For L-1, identify the sufficient physical premises actually secured for the business and explain how the proposed activities fit them. A future leasing intention is different from an existing right to occupy. A right to occupy is granted by a landlord and evidenced in a signed instrument; an intention to expand is held by the company alone. Only one of those two has a counterparty who could be held to it. Read the file with that test in mind and a phased plan sorts itself into what is secured and what is merely planned.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Separate the current arrangement from the future option
- Relate premises to the managerial plan
- Preserve the transition evidence
Several businesses under one brand still need separate ownership evidence
A shared brand may conceal different owners, employers and bank accounts. Before comparing transfer and investor routes, map the actual entities behind each activity. Brand consistency is not evidence that an L-1 qualifying relationship or E-2 treaty ownership requirement is satisfied. Hypothetical example: a commercial-diving equipment service company has a Canadian operating company and a separately owned U.S. repair shop using the same trade name. The owner must decide whether the corporate records support a transfer or whether the purchase and investor file concern a distinct enterprise. The first review should produce a dated ownership chart, share certificates or equivalent ownership records, and the contracts showing who employs the person and who receives payment.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Map the entities behind the trading names
- Use the map for two separate analyses
- Explain transfers between the businesses
Health-plan eligibility does not decide dependent immigration eligibility
An employer’s health plan may use a definition of dependent that differs from immigration law. Read both sets of requirements before treating an insurance enrolment confirmation as evidence that a partner or child may enter or work in the United States. Hypothetical example: the spouse of a fluid-power test technician is enrolled in an employer plan and is offered a paid remote role by a Canadian customer after arrival. The household must decide whether to defer the work, alter the plan, or obtain a separate authorization; benefit enrollment does not answer the work-permission question. A first review should make a person-by-person table of status, I-94 end date, relationship evidence, school plans, planned activity and the record supporting each entry.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Check the relationship under each system
- Keep coverage dates beside status dates
- Ask about activities as well as admission
Verify the payment recipient before following investment or gift instructions
An investment proposal and the official Gold Card process involve different recipients and commitments. Before sending funds, identify the exact transaction, the responsible party and the official or contractual instructions that apply. A message describing a payment as immigration funding does not explain its legal effect. Hypothetical example: an industrial-dye testing business is offered a regional-center subscription and, in another message, a Gold Card payment package. The prospective applicant must decide which payment, if any, matches the selected route before acting on either instruction. A first review should produce two separate transaction sheets naming the payee, contract, source record, stated immigration process and the consequence if the payment is cancelled or the petition is refused.
WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS
- Build a payment record before the transfer
- Identify what the selected process requires
- Preserve terms and confirmations